Prof. Tshepiso Makhafola bags the Iso Lomso Fellowship for his extensive research in genotoxicity and the use of natural products to prevent mycotoxin-induced genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

Prof. Tshepiso Makhafola is the  Assistant Dean for Research, Innovation and Engagement and the Director of the Centre for Quality of Health and Living in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences. He was recently awarded the Iso Lomso Fellowship, making him one of the eight successful candidates out of over 120 applicants.

https://stias.ac.za/2024/06/eighth-cohort-of-iso-lomso-fellows-announced/.

Prof. Makhafola is an accomplished biochemist who is leading a pioneering research project focusing on harnessing the potential of South African medicinal plants and phytochemicals to manipulate alternative splicing for cancer therapy. This research has the significant potential to make a substantial impact on the academic and research communities.

His research has earned him a Y rating from the NRF, as well as the NRF-BELSPO and NRF-FRF awards, making a significant contribution to the field. He is a member of the Toxicology Association of South Africa (TOXSA) and the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB). Additionally, he is an extraordinary lecturer at the University of Pretoria’s Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI).

“My research focuses on genotoxicity and the use of natural products to prevent mycotoxin-induced genotoxicity and carcinogenicity, two under-reported health issues in developing countries.”

According to Makhafola, Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, including in South Africa. Chemotherapy remains the main method of cancer treatment. Despite advances in chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer, costs, side effects, and development of resistance to chemotherapy are major obstacles, particularly in the global south. Colorectal cancer (CRC), cervical cancer (CVC) and oesophageal cancer (EC) are ranked the third, fourth and eighth most common cancers worldwide, respectively. Colorectal cancer and EC have a global mortality rate of 5.8 and 5.3%, respectively. In South Africa, CRC is the fourth most common cancer, with a low survival rate of 8.1.

He added that the highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality are in low-and-middle-income countries. “Oesophageal cancer is responsible for the second-highest number of cancer-related mortalities and has a 5-year relative survival rate of 4% in metastatic disease. Motivated by this evidence and challenges, we intend to investigate how South African medicinal plant extracts and phytocompounds that regulate alternative splicing can affect cancer growth and progression in these cancers. The urgency of this research is underscored by the high mortality rates of these cancers, making our work not only important but also highly relevant. It is estimated that more than 60% of anticancer drugs in clinical use originate from natural products, thereby pointing to their importance as promising sources for cancer drug development,” said Prof. Makhafola.

“Alternative splicing can contribute to all cancer hallmarks; alternatively, spliced isoforms expressed in cancer are fundamental for developing tumour-specific molecular targets for prognosis and therapy. Several alternative splicing factors are overexpressed and highly mutated in different cancer tissues. Additionally, changes in the splicing patterns of various alternative splicing events were identified in tumours, demonstrating a prominent role in carcinogenesis and a potential prognostic indication. Developing new pharmaceuticals targeting alternative splicing may create new therapeutic avenues for cancer treatment,” he concluded.

https://stias.ac.za/fellows/projects/targeting-alternative-splicing-for-cancer-therapy-using-south-african-medicinal-plants-and-phytocompounds/

In his comments, Prof. Mashele, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor:  Research, Innovation and Engagement said “Prof. Makhafola’s research work offers hope for improving global societal conditions.  Together with the team, we seek collaborations with like-minded institutions to further this cause. We are also proactively pursuing funding opportunities to develop innovative solutions, enabling our university to lead this research undertaking under his leadership and offer solutions to the research community.”

The Iso Lomso Fellowship award is not the first recognition for Prof. Makhafola. In 2020, he was amongst the 29 selected candidates of 130 nominations from all 26 universities for the pilot programme, Future Professors Programme (FPP) initiated by the Department of Higher Education and Training. In 2022, he established one of the CUT’s state-of-the-art Biochemistry and Tissue Culture facility - The Centre for Quality of Health and Living (CQHL), envisioned to drive improvement in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness that maximises healthy outcomes for the people.